breast feeding support

[graciem]

hello everyone, this seems the best place to post this. i have bf 2 children for a total of 40mths and still goin with 20mth son. i am very passionate about bf feeling the benefits for both mum and baby, i was very lucky to have the support of my sister who is a midwife 24/7 and i no that the education and support helped me and my babies feed suscessfully for so long, most mummies who try bf give up in the 1st 2 wks due to lack of proffesional support and education in bf techniques so i would really like pursue a career in bf support and education. can anyone give me any ideas on this? has anyone paid for for bf classes or a support worker? and if so who were they run by. has anyone had to pay for classes cos the nhs dont run them in your area? has anyone used the association for bf mothers support phone line? thank u.

There are four charities in the UK offering BF support. If you train up as a BFC, it can be possible to earn a living as a breast-feeding supporter, but there isn't that much out there.

I know the BFN classes are free.

If you want to take a local class, your best options, imo, would be to visit your local BF support groups and ask the workers there.

If you want to get paid then think your best bet would probably be to train as a post-natal doula specialising in BF.

If you want to train as a BFC then opportunities to get paid are few and far between but the training is very in-depth. I'd have a good look at each organisation (NCT, LLL, ABM and BFN as well as a few other smaller, local ones) to see what they can offer and how they organise their training so you can see what suits you best. I'm not sure about others but with LLL it's very flexible and you can take younger DCs with you to workshops etc.

The other option is to train as an international board credited lactation consultant but I think they've changed the way you qualify and you need a medical background now.